Plenty of legendary NBA players have suited up for the New York Knicks over the years.
So many, in fact, that it makes choosing an all-time starting five incredibly difficult. So many great players have played each position that it feels as if you're leaving somebody out, regardless.
It's a fruitless task, but we've done it anyway.
Here's our pick for the Knicks' all-time starting five. We've included a sixth man (just to get an extra player in), plus a head coach. For this exercise, we tried to build a realistic line up of guards, forwards, and a center.
Guard 1: Walt "Clyde" Frazier
This is an easy one. "Clyde" is among the greatest guards ever. Over 10 seasons with the Knicks, Frazier averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals per game while making the All-Star team seven times. More importantly, he helped the Knicks win their only two championships in 1970 and 1973. His Game 7 performance in the 1970 Finals is a stat line that would still make today's stars blush: 36 points, 7 rebounds, and 19 assists.
Today, he is the ultimate ambassador, serving as a beloved play-by-play announcer and embodiment of the franchise's most successful era.
Guard 2: Jalen Brunson
Is this a prisoner-of-the-moment pick? Perhaps.
But it's hard to deny the impact Brunson has had in just two years. He's only a one-time All-Star and All-NBA member, but he already ranks second in points per game in franchise history. In two years he has won more playoff games than Carmelo Anthony. Brunson's five 40-point games in last year's playoffs put him in company with LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Bernard King, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Shaquille O'Neal for most 40-point games in the postseason. He is certainly on a trajectory to have his number retired in MSG.
The Knicks are borderline championship contenders this season, largely because of Brunson's ascension into a top-15 player. His legend will only continue to grow in the coming years.
Forward 1: Carmelo Anthony
Anthony was a divisive Knick, but he has grown more beloved in the time since he's left. A big part of that is because Anthony not only chose to join New York, forcing a trade in 2011, but he stuck it out until the bitter end, in 2017, when it became clear both sides needed to move on.
Anthony's isolation-heavy offensive style and passive interest in the other facets of the game may have been criticized, but there's no denying that his scoring carried the Knicks for years. A six-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA member with the Knicks, Anthony is seventh all-time in franchise scoring, and that's with a partial seasons in 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2014-15. Had the Knicks been able to build a playoff team around Anthony in his later years, perhaps he could have stuck around long enough to make the top three.
Forward 2: Willis Reed
We're cheating a bit with this pick, but it's nearly impossible to make a choice between which legendary Knicks big man to put in the starting lineup (you can guess who we put at center). And according to Basketball-Reference, Reed was listed as a power forward in three of his first four seasons, so he's a power forward here.
Over 10 seasons, all with the Knicks, Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. The NBA didn't record blocks then, but Reed was also an intimidating presence in the paint. "The Captain" was voted MVP in 1969-70 and finished runner-up the next year. His most famous moment, of course, came in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals, when he trotted onto the court through a torn muscle in his thigh, knocked down the first two shots of the game, and motivated the Knicks to a championship.
Center: Patrick Ewing
A championship is the only thing keeping Ewing from being the clear-cut greatest Knick of all-time, and he might still be (Frazier is his only competition). Ewing is the franchise leader in games, minutes, field goals, free throws, points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. Over 15 seasons with the Knicks, he averaged 22.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game, making 11 All-Star teams and 7 All-NBA teams (in an era full of superstar centers), while finishing in the top five in MVP voting in six times.
While Ewing never won a championship, the Knicks did make the Finals in 1994, and they made the playoffs 13 straight seasons with him as the leader.
Sixth Man: Bernard King
It was a tough call between King and Anthony for the starting forward spot — Anthony got the nod for more seasons with the Knicks.
King only played four seasons with the Knicks and one of them was just six games. But in his three healthy years, King was one of the most dynamic scorers in the NBA. With an average of 26.5 points per game as a Knick (including a league-leading 32.9 points per game in 1984-85), two All-Star nods, and a runner-up MVP finish in 1983-84, King has his place in Knicks lore.
Honorable mentions: Dave DeBuscherre, Earl Monroe, John Starks, Charles Oakley Allan Houston, Julius Randle
Head coach: Red Holzman
This was also an easy call. Holzman is the franchise leader in wins and seasons as a Knicks head coach. He won the only two championships in franchise history, and guided the team to eight straight playoff appearances from 1968 to 1975, plus an additional appearance in 1981 during a second stint as head coach. No one else's resumé in Knicks history comes close.
Honorable mentions: Joe Lapchick, Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy
